An analysis of Verizon Wireless smartphone sales over the past year indicates why the carrier is suddenly demonstrating interest in Apple's iPad and iPhone: Android isn't working out as well as once hoped, with AT&T now selling 2.5 times as many iPhones as Verizon is Android models.
According to new analysis by Asymco, data published earlier by ITG Investment Research analyst Matthew Goodman shows just how much the iPhone has done to blunt Verizon's growth, and how little Android has done to help Verizon.
Previously, AppleInsider reported how the same data indicated that Verizon's relationship with RIM's BlackBerry was being strained by Android.
BlackBerry made up over 90 percent of the carrier's smartphone mix as recently as October 2009, but was rapidly displaced by Android-based phones starting that same month with the arrival of Motorola's Droid, which was accompanied by a media blitz paid for by Verizon.
Verizon shifted its marketing efforts from BlackBerry to focus on Android because RIM was unable to deliver a phone that could compete against the iPhone. The 2008 holiday season's BlackBerry Storm was a particularly bad launch for the carrier.
A year later, Verizon's smartphone selection is now split by RIM and each of the carrier's Android licensees: Motorola, HTC, LG and Samsung. However, there's valid data for explaining why Verizon is seeking to make another platform jump, this time from Android to Apple' iOS. The carrier has already started selling the iPad, and is now rumored to be launching Apple's iPhone early next year.
Asymco points out, graphically, that Verizon's smartphone performance with BlackBerry, Android, and Palm's webOS simply pales in comparison to AT&T's performance with Apple's iPhone.